The Wanderer's End
by Wraith128
Summary: The Lone Wanderer contemplates the future he knows that he will have to endure, and if its really worth it then finds himself on a whole new journey in itself. This is my first story on this site so please read and review, any feedback is appreciated.
1. Prologue

Dawren looked down at what he held in his hand. It was your standard 10mm pistol, look out in the wastes for five minutes and you were bound to find one, or at least have one shot at you. This one brought back memories though, about that first day he had stepped out of the doors of Vault 101, when his best friend shook him for his sleep to tell him that his father had escaped and he had to leave, forever. Then gave him a gun, this gun.

He sighed, why was he sitting out here? He didn't even know how he got here. Really all he did was get up from his freshly de-loused bed in Megaton, put on his favorite heavy brown regulator coat, grabbed this gun and left. It was early morning now, but still the sun hadn't risen into the sky. The night always settled him, brought him a sense of peace in such few words. Really it shouldn't have, if anything the night should hold more dangers than the day, the five raiders laying dead on the ground ten feet away should be a testament to that.

But the question remained, why was he out here? Maybe it was something psychological that he needed, or maybe, just maybe, physical. That question was answered when he raised the gun and put it to his temple. Now this was change in pace, why would he, the hero of the wastes, the lone wanderer, the holier than thou white knight he had so aptly been called by the members of talon company want such a fate. Thinking back he could answer that too.

Everything he had accomplished since he had arrived in the wastes only… what one, no two years, he couldn't remember. The life he lived now was, for lack of a better word, an addiction that he had succumbed to. Worse than any alcohol or chems that so many people were drawn to. But sitting here now he saw it all coming to an end, and what was left was not appealing at all. Sure the Enclave, his greatest enemy was now just a memory in these wastes, the waters of life now flowed freely to any and all who wanted it, and the super mutants that had for so long plagued this land were all but extinct.

Now what was left for him? Politics, people surrounding him preaching that he should lead them to whatever Promised Land they had envisioned? Maybe he was just overreacting; he drew the gun away from his head. He was drawn back to the vision he had received back in the dank marshes of Point Lookout. The truths he so desperately wished to reject. How everything that he loved and cherished had either left him, or rejected him. His father and mother, dead, his lifelong childhood friend, rejected his existence and the only other woman in his life he could say he cared for had told him that their duty came before any personal feeling he might have. "Fuck it," Dawren shouted at the top of his lungs, the resounding echo sounding through every cliff, valley and hill that surrounded him creating a chorus out of that one hateful, self-loathing phrase.

This was it, now was the time. He raised the gun to his head one last time. Cocking back the hammer with one thumb he prepared himself for whatever plain of existence awaited. Click. Click. Click. This was interesting apparently the gun was empty. Impossible he pulled the gun away from his temple and took out the clip; sure enough not one bullet remained. He had used the gun to drop the five raiders; one shot through each of their heads, he had been so sure of himself that he hadn't even bothered to double tap any of them, good thing too. Was this a sign, or just dumb luck? From somewhere of to his left a scream echoed, a woman's scream. Shaking his head Dawren stood up and picked up one of the assault rifles the raiders had been carrying. He ejected the clip, slammed it back home and grabbed a few more from the corpse. Slinging the rifle over his shoulder and walking towards the scream Dawren began to think that maybe, just maybe, he'd get to continue this life a little longer.


	2. Captured

**Okay this is the first official chapter; the last was more of an intro. Now Dawren does seem to have a different demeanor here and it's now in first person that was my intention sorry for any confusion, but please bear with me and enjoy.**

Fuck. The room I'm sitting in smells like a slaughtered brahmin left to rot in the sun for a week. Considering from the little I've seen of this room, it wouldn't surprise me if that were the case. Oh yeah to make matters worse, it's almost completely dark except for one stream of sunlight glinting in from a small hole in the wooden wall.

I'm starting to think maybe trying a little harder to get a bullet in my head a while back wasn't such a bad idea. The name's Dawren by the way, Dawren Fawross. It's been about a week since I was sitting on that hillside contemplating my own mortality. I found the woman who screamed, about a mile away from the spot where I was. She was just sitting there with a hood over her head and bound with a piece of chain with no apparent threat in sight. I was about to untie her and find out what happened when she looked up at me and said, "I'm sorry." The next thing I knew a two by four was brought down on the base of my neck. Honestly, I'm surprised I'm not dead or at least paralyzed.

I can hear someone breathing and crying on the other side of the wall. I'm guessing it's the woman I saw before. If anyone's wondering exactly why I haven't tried to break free yet, well have you actually ever been hog tied, and if you have has it been with a piece of rusty barbed wire? Hell I'm spending my days avoiding making another cut on my wrists. I'm hoping to live long enough to at least die of an infection. Well, from what I've heard and seen from my captors they're obviously all super mutants. Lucky for me that means they're lacking in the brains department, but certainly not in the "pull out the defenseless victim's eyes, spleens, tendons and whatever else I can pull out without killing it" department. So I state once again, fuck.

Suddenly the ramshackle door bangs open and in strides one the nasties. This one particularly so as he seems to have forgotten to floss after his morning snack of random living being's entrails. Without so much as a grunt he grabs me right by the barbed wire knot and starts dragging me along. Let me just say that after spending almost twenty years underground and then being brought on the surface was ten times worse for your eyes than a week in a musty old shack, but it still stings a bit. So the mutant dragged me outside and threw me in this rusty old shopping cart they had lying around. Hey, at least I didn't have to walk.

So as he's pushing me along I get a better look at this camp they have set up here, not much to look at. Really all it had was the initial building I was dragged out of, a few oversized cots with an overhang and the blood splattered, bone decorated, generally ominous looking building I was being pushed towards. "You know," I said to my temporary chauffeur, "I may not be a professional painter but blood doesn't seem to be the best choice for paint. It changes color when it dries, you see." "We repaint lots of times," he grunted. "Ah" I said when I should have been saying "Ah so I'm screwed then." But I like to keep my conversations civil.

Banging open the front door with one of his massive fists, my new friend kindly tipped the shopping cart over, sending me sprawling onto the surprisingly sturdy concrete floor of this new building. Inside was the pleasant sight of three more super mutants. Two by the door, each holding a firearm of some make or model and another at the other end of the room. This one with a regal bone and skin crown atop his head and a dried brown splattered super sledge in his right hand. Two guesses what the brown was and a hint, it wasn't pudding. "You," he boomed at me. "Yes," I replied in the kindest, most mocking tone I could muster. "We lock you up for many days, you no die, why," he screamed. Apparently he wasn't aware that I had added a small emergency water container on the Pip-Boy 3000 strapped to my wrist, which had helped me survive, and I think I at least had a few more days before I starved to death. But as to not disappoint my amazed host, I game him a more exciting version of how I survived. " I am a great and powerful sorcerer who has come to wipe this planet clean of scum such as you. Release me at once or face my great and awesome power."

I swear to god the two by the door actually flinched and moved an inch towards the door. The one whom I was addressing however was not amused and replied with a very deft backhand across my face, which landed me right next to one of the walls, which held an assortment of metal boxes. Slowly I inched towards them as my host turned towards the two at the door saying something about bringing me out back and letting me meet "little brother." The first box I reached held nothing but half a radroach. Now I had to hurry as the chieftain, or at least that's what he appeared to be, was turning back towards me. The next box was up on a low shelf. I couldn't see up inside it but I was just barely able to reach it and unclasp it. Inside were what felt like a bunch of cold metal eggs and I prayed they were what I thought they were. Grabbing and stuffing two of them in the pockets of my pants, they apparently had taken my regulator duster somewhere; I once again lay in the feeble position I had landed in. With a snick I heard a knife being drawn and I closed my eyes just as the chieftain cut the wire around my legs, "Up now meat," he hollered, "Little brother like for his food to run around." I pushed myself up and sputtered, "So I guess he likes tag, funny," I grabbed hold of one of the eggs and pulled its metal pin, "So do I." I shoved the grenade right into his mouth that he had so kindly lowered to my level. "You're it," I whispered before I ran like hell right out of the building, the resounding boom and wet sounds of bloody chunks spattering against the walls right behind me.

I met the two door guards outside both of which had an expression of pure horror as my story of being a sorcerer now rang very true to them with the image of smoke and the blood of their leader all making a mural behind me. Raising my right hand as if to cast another explosive spell the two actually shrieked in a pitch I did not commonly hear coming from a super mutant, but all the same they pitched their guns at me and ran. I breathed a sigh of relief. The other option would have been the two of them panicking and shooting everything they had at me, but that would have been the intelligent choice. I grabbed the closest gun to me, and old pre-war hunting rifle and began to head for the exit. Unfortunately, my conscience reminded me that a certain prisoner was still in the building I'd been trapped in for a week. With a groan I ran as fast as I could back to the shack.

I sometimes wish that my foresight was twenty twenty as a week without food and very little sleep caught up with me just at the peak of my adrenaline spike. The result was a mini nuke going off inside my abdomen. Now stumbling forward I reached the building and pushed open the door I knew the girl was in. Still wearing the hood she had on when I originally saw her I reached down and began to untie her. She groaned and suddenly became conscious. Her initial reaction was kicking and screaming as she felt something touching her, understandable as she had just spent an undetermined amount of time with these super mutants. I told her to calm down and relax and as soon as she realized who, and better yet what, I was she did seem to relax. But even though the hood covered her face, I swear she was staring at me. Whatever I told myself, I'd find out later. "Can you walk," I said as kindly and softly as I could. "Y-yes, I think so," she stuttered. Her voice seemed familiar somehow, another thing I would have to find out later.

I got her up and together we made our way out of the building, my rifle in one hand and the other supporting her. I looked to my left and saw that my valiant effort was rewarded as I saw, dangling from one of the cots, was my regulator coat. Setting down the rifle and depositing the girl on the bed I donned it, dismayed when I saw that the 10mm and assault rifle I had before I was knocked unconscious were both gone. Taking up the girl and rifle again we made our way towards the exit when I heard, actually more like felt, footsteps behind me. Turning around I saw the first super mutant I had met here next to him was one of the few things about the wasteland that still brought me fear at night. "Meet 'little brother' meat bag," he shouted right before he burst out laughing and the twenty-foot behemoth came charging at us. "I sure hope you can do more than walk," I said to the girl. Then I chambered a round and turned toward the beast.


	3. Behemoth

Shit. Wow I'm having a lot of one-word thoughts lately. But it just so happens that shit perfectly describes this situation. As if having a five shot rifle, considering it was fully loaded, one grenade, and about of 120 pounds of extra human baggage to carry wasn't bad enough. The twenty-foot roughly 5000 pounds of mutated nastiness was running at me full speed. So… shit.

With all the compassion still left in my heart… I threw the girl as far away from me as possible, flinching as I saw her land almost face first on the rocky outcropping. Knowing I would probably pay for that later, I turned back to the problem at hand. Taking down a behemoth with what I had on hand was going to be a problem. He was about thirty feet away and gaining fast, if I was going to do something it had to be fast. Ok, I'm not going to do anything now so… dodge. Good plan.

I leaped to my right with everything I had tucking and rolling just as the behemoth passed... almost running face first into the cliff. An idea started forming in my head. The behemoth was turning its massive body back towards me, but I was already running full speed back towards the super mutant camp. The guy who released the behemoth was nowhere to be found. Better tie up that loose end, I thought. When I have time. I heard the pounding feet picking up speed behind me. I reached the bloody bone building and starting hauling my ass up the side of it, scrambling to reach the top. If I can get to the top I can replay the scenario I played with the chieftain and get that grenade right into this guys mouth. Lucky for me the bones held fairly well under my weight and I was able to reach the roof. Unfortunately I was too late as the behemoth plowed its full weight into the building sending chunks of wood, concrete, and, well me, flying. I felt a weight leave my pocket and looked down just as the grenade fell on the behemoth hitting him somewhere around the neck.

I landed… hard. I think it was rock about twenty feet from the newly demolished super mutant base. Honestly, I wasn't paying that much attention as I heard a loud crack from my left shoulder and a searing pain hit my arm like a hot knife was just jabbed into me. No use trying to see if the shoulder was ok, it was pretty obvious it wasn't. I still had to move or I was just going to be a bloody mark on the canyon floor. I tried to scramble away, but my head just felt so light. I collapsed again.

Then I felt a small arm take hold of me and start dragging me away. Looking up, I could just barely make out a hood around the person's face. The girl dragged me towards the exit of the camp just as the behemoth turned located us once again and began his charge. Snapping back to reality I looked all around me for the rifle just to see it was nowhere to be found. Out of pure adrenaline I shook myself away from the girl, hauled myself up, and ran.

The girl right behind me we dashed away from the camp. The stomps got louder and louder behind us as we ran away. I felt a tug at my foot and stumbled, nearly falling over. Looking over my shoulder I saw a tube of metal sticking out of the pile of wood I had almost tripped over. Turning around so fast I almost hit the girl, I sped back the way we had come. One hand reaching I out just barely got three of my fingers around the barrel before I skidded to stop and followed the girl back towards open ground.

Ok I had the rifle, now what? Risking a random shot at the behemoth would just waste ammo, not to mention just piss this thing off. Well piss him off more. I glanced back over my shoulder to see him charging at us full speed about fifty feet behind us… and the grenade I dropped hanging by a scrap of cloth on his neck. This was probably the only chance I would get so I yelled at the girl, "Keep running, and don't look back." I turned toward the behemoth and leveled the rifle, or at least attempted to. This was when I remembered that I had just recently fucked up my shoulder. Now I was aiming a rifle with one arm, attempting to hit a grenade on the neck of a twenty foot green mutant. I am happy to say I got off a shot, right before a giant hand swept me up and slammed me into a boulder. My vision, that had turned red at this point, just barely made out the shape of a human picking something up a ways to my right just as a hulking mass turned towards it.

As my vision cleared I saw the girl pointing the rifle right at the mutant. I tried to shout run, but it came out more like, "Rall uhhh." The mutant was walking towards us now, apparently trying to savor this moment as much as possible. The girl stood there while the behemoth got closer and closer. Bang… BOOM! When the smoke cleared I saw the behemoth standing there in mid-stride, a look of, at least I'm guessing was, surprise on his face. And a hole the size of a shed where his neck should have been. About five seconds passed before he crashed to the ground. The resounding boom loud enough to knock me off my feet, if I had been on my feet.

At this point I was staring at the girl as she lowered the still smoking gun. The adrenaline gone by now, I was surprised I was able to get myself to my feet. I stumbled over to her, and almost fell again. She caught me and pulled me to my feet. When I finally righted myself I turned to talk to her, but she was pointing the gun again, at me. "Down," she said. "What are you doing," I slurred hoping it sounded like what I intended. "DOWN," she yelled. I dropped my full weight to the ground, face first, as the gun went off again. Twisting around onto my back I looked behind me. A sledgehammer in his hand and missing one head, I saw the last surviving super mutant drop to the ground with a thud. Getting back to my feet for the what seemed like the twentieth time today I looked at the girl, raised one hand as if to say something, then smiled as my world went black. I was out before I hit the ground.


	4. Reunion

**You may notice that this chapter is lain out differently than others, mostly because there's more dialogue.**

I only saw glimpses of what happened during our trip. Someone in a dirty suit, the back of a brahmin, a guy in power armor trying to see who I was, and the gates of Megaton. I finally woke up staring at the very familiar ceiling of Doc Churches' clinic.

"So you're awake," I heard his voice say. "I was afraid I'd just wasted a hundred caps worth of stims and bandages just to have you die anyway."

"You've patched me up enough to know someone else isn't going to kill me anytime soon," I responded groggily.

"Maybe you'll just off yourself then," he said, chuckling to himself as he walked out of the room.

Putting the irony aside for now I sat up in bed, immediately regretting it as an invisible person beat me over the head with a baseball bat. "Oh," said the Doc as he came back in the room. "Did I forget to mention you're going to have a bit of a headache?"

"Thanks, Doc." I said, trying as hard as I could to seal my eyelids together.

After another hour of lying down, and quite a few high-powered painkillers from the Doc's "personal supply", I got up, put my arm in a sling and went to leave.

"Just put this on my tab, Doc" I said while walking down the ramp away from the clinic.

"That ran out four visits ago," he yelled after me. "Oh, and that girl that brought you in is waiting in your house."

I turned back around. "You let her in my house?"

"She waited here with you for a day while I put you back together. I didn't think any stranger would do that for anyone, nonetheless you."

I rolled my eyes. "Later, Doc."

I walked away while he said something about letting me die next time if I didn't bring him some caps. I passed the usual people on the way up the ramp to my house, Lucas Simms glaring down the teenagers, Jericho mumbling about something or other and the Children of Atom praising the bomb I disarmed back when I first got here. Another pamphlet for some new miracle aid was stuck to my door; I pulled it down and crumpled it before opening the door and walking inside.

Inside, I was met by my faithful butler Wadsworth. "It's good to see you alive and well sir, is there anything you need?"

"Not now," I said looking around. "Where's the girl that was here?"

"Ahh yes, of course sir," he responded cheerfully. "She's upstairs in your study."

Huh - study, that was his name for the room on the second floor with a chair and metal bookshelf with the random books and manuals I had picked up around the wastes. Before I went up, I walked over to the lockers where I kept the weapons cache I had accumulated. I grabbed what was in the locker closest to me, a nicely restored pre-war 32 pistol. I grabbed a box of ammo and loaded the gun on the way up the stairs and holstered it when I got to the top. A useless gesture seeing as I pulled it out again and took aim as soon as I stepped into the study.

Standing there reading one of my Grognak the Barbarian comics, issue number one to be precise, was someone I had known for almost my entire life. She had been my first friend and love. She had caused the first time for me to feel like I had been stabbed in the back, without there actually having been a knife. Standing in front of me was Amata, the overseer of Vault 101.

)*(

A look of shock passed over her face when she saw the gun, but realization dawned when she saw I could see her face.

"Dawren I..." she stammered

BLAM. The bullet passed over her right shoulder and smacked into the wall behind her. Shaking she looked at me again.

"O-Ok, I m-may have deserved that," she began again. Then she tried a nervous smile, "I forgot how good a shot you were."

"What do you mean," I said in a tone that seemed pissed to me. "I missed."

The smile disappeared immediately. Silence came over the room for what seemed like an eternity. Then she brought herself up again. Her calm determined demeanor, that made her so memorable to me, came back.

"You know what I did was right," she said. "Now if you're the Dawren I remember, you should have gotten over it a long time ago.

Of course she wasn't talking about the first time I left Vault 101, I thanked her everyday for helping me with that. No, she meant the second time when she believed that, after taking control of the vault, my leaving would help the Vault's future or some other crap. She was right of course; I would have gotten over it, if I had believed her reasons. I was supposed to believe that after my saving the Vault from the tyrannical ruler that was Amata's father, as well as stopping the Vault's security force's plan to kill Amata and everyone else that wanted the Vault open without so much as pulling a gun. After all that she tells me that she wants me to leave because my presence would cause tension within the Vault. I couldn't believe that my presence to the people was the reason; it was my presence with her. She didn't want the picture of me that she had thought up to be ruined. She expected me to act like a fucking savage. So when I came back and acted exactly like my old self, she started to think she could have been wrong.

So no, I didn't believe that what she did was necessary, it was selfish. And the situation playing out now I had been planning in my head since I left that day, yet I still hadn't done anything.

We just stared at each other. Her words and our stares just hanging in the air like a fog. My logical side kicked in when I realized nothing was happening and I decided to play pacifist. I uncocked the gun and put it back in the holster. What happened next I couldn't explain at the time, but after the gun was gone she walked right up to me and threw her arms around my stomach and squeezed. I hugged her back. Even as I felt the vengeful side of me cry out, but I didn't care. My best friend, my first love, was back in my life. Nothing else mattered now. Details could wait till later, now it was just me and her. For the first time in a long time, I could say I was happy.


	5. Amata's Story

"You what," I yelled, almost falling over backwards in my chair laughing.

"Hey, big-time radio D.J or not he really shouldn't have assumed anything like that. And while he was on the air." Amata said burying her face in her palms as her face flared red.

Amata and I had just been sharing what had happened to us since we last parted. We both agreed I would have more to say so she went first. We were sitting in my makeshift living room, which included a beat up old couch, a surprisingly well maintained easy-chair, and one of those uncomfortable metal fold up chairs.

She had just told me that the reason she had left the vault was to see me, but why exactly she had still not specified. When she got outside she noticed the GNR broadcast and tuned in for a while. That was really how she had found me, or at least came close to it. She had been listening when Three Dog starting talking about one of my latest exploits, that incident in Grayditch when I stopped the fire ants and found the only surviving kid a new home.

So she managed to track down Three Dog at his fortress in the downtown D.C ruins. What had made me laugh so much was apparently when Three Dog greeted her he made the following comment. "So you're that hot piece of ass the kid's always spouting on about." The result was a very painful knee right into Three Dog's groin, all of this while he was still on the air.

"You really have changed a lot Amata." It was true. Gone were the sticks dangling from her shoulders, that was replaced by actual muscle. Not buff by any means, but like a runner, athletic. The girlish face I had once known was much more filled out. The pale skin she had attained from vault life was replaced by tanned, hardened skin. The girl in front of me now wasn't really girl anymore, she was a woman.

"Uh, Dawren. You're staring at me."

"Huh? Oh, sorry," I responded sheepishly.

"Well anyway, now you know why I got out here. Anything else I you want to know?"

"Yeah, how the hell did you fall in with those super mutants? If you found Three Dog and me, almost, how could you let yourself get caught by them?"

"Stupidity mostly," she said with a shrug.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What is this I hear? Is it… admission, of being wrong?"

"Jeeze, is that really so hard to believe. Was I really that stuck up?"

"Just a little." I said.

"So seriously," I continued, "what happened? Start at the beginning."

"Well after my little 'run in' with Three Dog he told me that you had been seen up north. I tried going up there and asking around, but I found nothing." She looked at the floor for a minute. "I did find this place led by some guy named Dave, said that you had been there recently and that you had talked about some boat to the south, and going to an island called Point Lookout. That didn't excite me at all. Luckily I avoided a lot of trouble by traveling with one of those Brotherhood of Steel water caravans that were coming back from a delivery." "I told them I wanted to avoid the D.C ruins at all costs, and they obliged me. But it took almost a month: stopping for supplies, avoiding known raider and slaver camps. You know stuff like that."

I sat listening. Unknowing that with all my travels, if I had just stayed a few more days in any one area we would have met up earlier. Well no turning back now.

"Well, I got there. The driver of the boat, some girl with orange hair, said she had just dropped you off. She also said to say you were welcome back anytime and 'winked' at me. Almost decked her for that." She was smiling now. I hadn't seen that in so long it was like a breath of fresh air just to see it again. "I think I was out in the wastes for almost half a year at this point."

"Anyway," she continued. "I had lost all my companions at this point. Stupid as it was I went off again by myself. I guess I was overconfident." "Well one day I tried to take refuge in this old academy, named after some guy named Roose-." She paused as she noticed me staring at her again, this time with more a look of confusion. "What," she said, "Its not like _vault_ history included much else outside the _vault_," she said. "So as I was saying, I took shelter at this academy. I know I really should have checked the place out first, but I was just really tired. So the second I opened the door I saw my mistake when I was staring down the barrels of at least twenty of those mutants' weapons."

"They knocked me out. When I woke up I heard some of them arguing over what they wanted to do to me. The four you met had a scheme all cooked up to capture more travelers like what they did with you. The others didn't agree, they just wanted to kill me right away, and they almost started killing each other. Those four were able to get me out of there that night and set up shop in that little camp."

"Wait," I interjected. " How many people did they get before me?"

"Two I think," she said, looking at the floor again. "They seemed to enjoy letting everyone they captured die of starvation or dehydration, which ever came first."

I sat back in my chair and looked at the ceiling. How the hell could super mutants be so damn crafty, I thought. I stood up from my chair and walked towards my kitchen and took two of my Nuka-Cola Quantums from my ever-draining supply. Hey, highly irradiated or not, they tasted pretty damn good. I walked back and gave one to her. I twisted the bottle cap off of mine with one hand, caught it, and put it into the little pouch on my side. I was about to offer to do the same for Amata's, but then I saw she already had it off, the cap on the table, and half of the drink gone.

"You know," I said, laughing under my breath, "you've gotten pretty damn cool."

"Yeah? Maybe." She said, trying to hide her smirk with another gulp of the drink.

We sat in relative silence as we finished. The only sound in the room came from Wadsworth's propulsion jets.

Finally Amata spoke up, "So are you going to tell me your story."

I got up and took my coat off the wall. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"Have you ever been to Moriarty's saloon?" I responded.

"Why?" She said, a quizzical look gracing her face.

"If you really want me to tell you my whole story, I'm not doing it without a drink in my hand."

Realization dawned on her face as she stood up to join me. As we walked out of the house she turned to me. "You know if you wanted to ask me out you could have just said so," flashing one of her annoying little smiles at me. "Its not a date," I said staring straight ahead. "Its two old friends going to a bar to get piss drunk and tell stories." "Sure it is," she said, rolling her eyes. Just before we walked in the door of the saloon she slipped her arm inside of mine. I glared at her until we sat down.


	6. Moriarty's

Moriarty's was an… interesting hangout. It wasn't the building itself; no it looked just like every building built after the war. No the people here were what made this place interesting.

As we walked inside I looked around seeing the usual customers. Over in the corner, trying to hook up with Nova, was Jericho. Moriarty was over talking with Billy Creel about his tab, and behind the counter was the first actual friend I made in Megaton, Gob. You see Gob is a ghoul and he gets a lot of crap for that anyway, but in Moriarty's saloon he was the prime target for any drunkards frustrated ranting. But when I arrived, I just asked for any information on my dad in the way I had always been told to speak, respectfully no matter what that person's appearance may be. He was so grateful for that small amount of courtesy he always gave me a discount on my drinks, even though he knew the consequences that could be brought down on him.

"Hey, bud," Gob called out to me, "what'll you ha-" he stopped, his gaze transfixed on Amata. "Oh thank God," Gob called out hands rose to the ceiling. "What the hell are you babbling on about Gob," I snapped back. "You got a girl with you for once," he said, his head now resting on the counter.

"Screw you, Gob." I spat at him, a smile creasing my lips at this point.

"Hey, how many times have you been in here alone? I was wondering if you'd start hitting on me." He said, trying to cover up his laughter by keeping his face on the counter

Amata, having been silent until now, but smiling the whole time, finally spoke up. "Don't get your hopes down yet Gob, we're always looking for a third to join us. Don't think we've had a ghoul yet."

My glare could have melted rock. Gob, however just found it adding all the more to the hilarity of the situation. Now laughing out loud enough so that the whole saloon was staring at us, Gob finally gasped, "I-I like her, bud."

Suddenly Gob's head flew down and banged off the counter, he slumped to the ground unconscious. Standing behind him was Moriarty still grasping the back of his neck. He looked up at me with his ever-apparent air of confidence. Smiling he said, "Damn zombie scaring away good business, you understand." Then he hauled Gob into his back office and shut the door.

When he came back he looked at us and said, "Now as long as that useless pile of flesh is indisposed I'll be taking care of you. So what can I get you and your enchanting lady friend?"

"Uh, how about just two beers to start."

He reached under the counter and slid the drinks towards us as we took our seats at the bar.

Amata turned towards me and whispered, "Aren't you going to do something?"

"About what?" I responded taking a swig from my drink

"Didn't he just knock out one of your friends?"

"I don't know what it is, but Moriarty and Gob have some kind of agreement. So unless I want to go so far as to kill Moriarty I really don't have a say in the matter."

"So you'll just let him abuse your friend like that and won't say anything?" she said almost standing up now.

"Anyone who has spent a week in the wastes should know that you can't help everyone without causing more violence than the outcome is worth." I said, just staring straight ahead.

"I guess you're right." she said, but her sigh was loud enough for anyone listening to hear it.

"So, are we just going to sit here?" I asked laying down a sack full of caps on the counter. "Or did you want to hear my story?" Moriarty came by and took the caps and, then set down two more beers.

"Go ahead," she said as we both finished our first drinks, and then took a hold of the next.

I opened my next drink, sat back in my stool, and looked up at the ceiling. With a sigh I said, "Where should I start?"

---------------

_One hour and six beers later._

We were both acting pretty somber. I had just finished telling her about the first time I visited Project Purity with my da, and how he hadn't come back.

"He really sacrificed himself like that?" She said, a sympathetic look passing over her face.

"Yeah… a-and I was there to see it all. And I..." I slammed my bottle down on the counter and rested my head on its surface. "I couldn't do a damn thing." I felt my eyes begin to sting. "God," I said, raising my head again. "I have to look ridiculous right now, it happened so long ago I shouldn't still feel like this. Hell I didn't feel like this when it happened."

She got up from her stool and wrapped her arms around me. "Did you ever talk about it with anyone?"

"Of course I-" I stopped, had I? I remember it coming up in conversations and people offering me their condolences. But I never really talked about it, not like this. I sighed, "I guess not," I felt the first tear roll down my cheek. She held me tighter.

"Go ahead, let it out," she sounded like a mother, her voice soft and soothing. I did let it out. I didn't sob or anything but I didn't bottle anything up either. I just let out any emotion that I happened to feel and if it involved a tear or two, so be it. I finished that part of my story before turning back to Moriarty. "Hey, can we get another round over here," then I thought for a second, "and a bottle of scotch?"

------------------

_Two hours, ten beers and half a bottle of scotch later_

"Yous okay," Amata slurred looking at me with a glazed look.

"M-fine, fine." I said back, I couldn't quite remember the bar looking so blurry.

"Kay, so shwhat happen' next," she asked?

We had been talking about our final victory over the Enclave, the last hour had moved by very fast. I think I was talking about actually blowing up the mobile base, but it was slightly difficult to concentrate at this point.

"So yeah, I pushed in some numbers and BOOM," I said. pushing my hand towards the ceiling to signify a mushroom cloud.

"Ha ha, sounds really fun. Wish I coulda been there." Then she gave me a glaring look. "What exactly is your rela-, relashun-, relationsip, with this Sarah?"

"Nothin' ya ned to worry bout'." I said, pulling her closer to me.

"Good." she said,

------------------

_Half an hour and two beers later_

"So, so she kinda' looked like dis'," Amata said holding two straws on top of her head.

"Just bout'," I responded.

"An, and he looked," she started cracking up as she grabbed a tin can and put it on my head. "He looked like dis'."

"Yep, dat' was them." I slurred before we both burst out laughing.

I had been trying to talk about my encounter in Canterbury Commons with the Antagonizer and the Mechanist. Apparently Amata needed some visuals and had used the straws and cans to do just that. I really couldn't believe we gad actually gotten this far into my life's story in such a short amount of time. We were only about two months before Amata left the vault to find me.

"Come on you two," Gob said. He had recently just come back in the room with a bandage around his head, giving us no end of laughter just at the sight of him. "Sorry about this, but I'm definitely cutting you two off."

"Oh, no," I gasped with a fake hurt look on my face. "Whateva, shall we do, how will we go on." I placed my hand on my forehead and fell off the back of my stool. Amata burst out into a fresh fit of laughter before accidentally joining me on the floor. We rolled around on the floor completely incapable of stopping ourselves from laughing until we were both gasping for breath. I felt a rough, scarred arm pull me to my feet; I wobbled but caught myself on the wall. I saw Gob do the same for Amata and then he stared at us.

"Damn it," he swore. "You two aren't in any condition to walk." He put his head in his hands, "I'll convince Moriarty to give you one of the rooms for the night."

"Preciate it, Gub." I said smiling at him. Moriarty actually aided Gob in helping Amata and I up the stairs to one of the empty rooms on the second floor. The room only had one bed, I started to say something but Moriarty threw me face first down onto the mattress. I felt someone being laid down much more gently as Gob helped Amata down onto the bed next to me. A weight came over us as Gob threw a light blanket down.

I turned over in the bed to look at Amata and saw she was doing the same for me. "G'night," I whispered. "Night," she whispered back. Then she kissed me on the lips before turning over again. I was almost surprised enough to pull away from her, but my eyelids came down before I could do or say anything. Sleep came very easily for me that night.


	7. A Little Practice

**Sorry for the late update. This may be how often I update until things settle down a bit, but you don't want to hear about that so enjoy.**

"How are you feeling, sweetie?" At some point Nova had walked up to the bar and started talking to me. I would've noticed if my head didn't feel like it was being split open with an ice pick. "Stop talking… now," I said through gritted teeth.

Gob came back with my fifth bottle of water and a punga fruit. "That's the last thing I want Gob," I spat. Staring at the bulbous light green and red spotted fruit I felt what was left in my stomach coming back up. "C'mon, bud, the vitamins are good for you." He set the water and fruit down then walked away.

I heard the toilet on the left side of the bar flush. Amata came stumbling out from behind the ripped up curtain. She looked almost as green as the fruit in front of me. She sat down beside me and let her head fall with a smack onto the counter. "Hungry?" I said groggily, offering her the fruit. She took one look at the food before getting up and sprinting back into the bathroom.

It was almost funny. I took a bite of the fruit and immediately regretted it. I followed Amata into the bathroom. When we both finally pulled ourselves away from our respective sink and toilet she looked at me smiling, "Karmas a bitch, huh?"

"Shut it," I grumbled.

We sat back down at the bar, and I looked at my Pip-Boy. "Damn it's already two in the afternoon." I grabbed my coat of the wall and with Amata leaning on me as we walked outside. We started back towards my house.

Suddenly something dawned on me about our fight with the behemoth. "Hey, what was with you and that rifle before?" "What do you mean," she grumbled. "I mean you hit a grenade on that behemoth while he was walking towards us. Most wastelanders would have turned tail and ran, not to mention someone fresh out of the vault."

We were passing the atom bomb now, Cromwell was already preaching to a small mass. "Okay first, I wasn't just out of the vault," she was standing on her own now and walking beside me. "I had been following you for a while. Secondly," she sighed, "When you first left and I found out about how the vault used to be open I started training myself." Now I was really interested, "What kind of training?"

"Anyway I could. You left that old BB gun of yours so I started some target practice. I was able to get plenty of hand-to-hand experience arguing with Butch," she was smiling at the memory. "So wait," I said, "You mean to tell me you got those nerves just from shooting targets and fighting wussies like Butch?" "Of course not," she said, a hurt look crossing her face, "I shot at Butch too." We both laughed at that.

Then I thought crossed my mind as we reached my front door. "Hey," I said opening the door. "Yeah?" "You mind showing me what you learned out there." "Um, sure but how? I mean I don't want to hurt you or anything." "Don't worry, I've got it covered." She looked confused as I walked inside and went to an old chest in my living room. I lifted the top and brought out two pairs of thin leather gloves, two ripped up padded helmets and a couple of round rubber discs. "What is all this?" she asked the confused expression still there. "I found this old sporting goods store and, in a couple of magazines I found, you use this stuff for practice fighting. I also found a bunch of old holotapes on fighting if you want to watch any of them."

She looked inside the chest and saw all the tapes, each of them labeled with what style of fighting they taught. She turned to me and asked, "What are those for?" pointing to the little rubber disks. "Mouth guards, incase I hit you in the mouth your teeth won't fly out." She threw a light punch at my arm before settling back down next to the tapes. She turned to me again as if to ask another question, but I was already pulling another device out of the box. It looked sort of like a radio, but there were metal grates over two silver disks. A few buttons on the front said things usually found on holotapes: play, pause, skip, and stop. She stared at the device for a few moments, then began looking it over for a spot to insert a tape, but found none. I almost laughed as I pushed down on the top, and the lid sprang open. Inside was not a place for a holotape, but something circular and flat. I pulled a plastic case off of my bookshelf, popped it open, and took out a shiny disk that I placed inside the lid before closing it again. I pressed play and almost pissed myself laughing at Amata's reaction.

Music like no one in the wasteland had ever heard before erupted from the speakers. There was a guitar but not like what you hear these days. It had power and obviously an electric amplification. The sound was rough and intense and was accompanied by a singer with lyrics and a voice that would upset anyone in the wasteland, a drum set, and an electric bass guitar. It wasn't really surprising that no one had heard it because people mostly just heard big bands with brass and orchestral songs that made almost no sense, I guess this wasn't much different except a smaller amount of people and a different style of singing and instruments.

"What is that," Amata yelled, covering her ears with her hands. "Music," I yelled back. "Sounds more like someone caught in a trash compactor." "You're just not used to it yet. It's called rock."

I paused the music to let her recuperate. "How come I've never heard of it?" she asked after a while. "Probably because the Overseer got rid of everything like this in the Vault." "But its not just in the Vault," she continued, "you never hear that on the radio out here." I'd been trying to get Three Dog to play some of this music and asked why he hadn't before. He said it was because they never found anything like that before, so I was probably the only person in the Wasteland to have anything like this. "They've never had the choice. In case you haven't noticed, music libraries are the last things on people's minds right now."

"I guess you're right," she said dejectedly. I started to shove all the furniture out of my living room into the kitchen and anywhere else it would fit. "So," I said finishing up, "are we just going to discuss music or are we going to see what you're made of." She got up and snatched the gloves and helmet away from me. "Sure, but its gonna be the other way around, I'm going to see what you're made of." I slipped the gloves and helmet on and stuffed the mouth guard into my mouth. Then I turned to her, wiped my mouth with one hand and said, "Bring it on."

For about the next hour we fought. I finally got Amata used to the music; she even seemed more pumped up by it. My shoulder was still sore, luckily it hadn't broken so I could still practice at least. Now I had watched every one of those holotapes at least twice, and I had been out in the wastes for a long time now. Yet somehow Amata managed to beat me a few times. The only answer I could get from her on how she did it was, "Maybe you're just distracted." Thinking back maybe that was true, seeing as before we started she ran off to Moira's and picked up some "work-out clothes." Apparently that meant low cut tank top and "short" shorts. I swear she did that on purpose. All I had was some old ripped up t-shirt that, at one point, had some band logo on it and some faded basketball shorts.

We finally finished up and she sat on the couch while I grabbed some aqua pura from the kitchen. We sat down for a while to try and cool off. I took a sip and looked over at Amata as if to say something, but involuntarily stopped. The image in front of me was really, um nice. She was taking a drink while pushing out her chest, the sweat glistening and the uh… water… dripping. I almost had to slap myself to stop staring; luckily it looked like she hadn't noticed.

We sat in silence again as we finished our drinks. Finally she broke the silence saying, "So did you get a good look?" Okay she noticed, but why not go a little further I thought. "Just wish I had a camera." She laughed as she got up and stood in front of me, then she stooped down and crossed her arms. She pushed her chest out to a completely unnecessary distance, but it was an amazing view. "Did you want another look to make up for it?" she said innocently. "Now you're just cheating," I snapped back, trying as hard as I could to look away.

The first gunshot ended the moment before the first of the screams could even begin. We were both on our feet and I sprinted towards my gun cabinet. I grabbed two 10mm sub-machine guns, a double-barreled shotgun, a box of shells, and four 10mm clips. I threw the shotgun and shells to Amata and slapped a clip into each gun. We turned towards the door, nodded to each other and ran outside.


	8. Invasion

_Its been way too long since I've updated, to make up for it this is an extra long chapter. Enjoy._

Outside was pure pandemonium. The shots were apparently coming from outside of the gates, but that didn't stop the people's panicking. Lucas was trying to organize everyone with any kind of combat experience at the bottom of the crater. He looked up and saw me staring over the railing, "Get your ass down here kid, we need all the help we can get." We sprinted down the ramp to meet up with Lucas.

"Lucas," I yelled when we finally reached the bottom, "what the hells going on?"

"Raider party," he said coolly. "There's no way a few raiders are causing all this," I snapped at him. "There are a lot of them, they seem… organized." In any other situation I would have laughed. I mean _raiders _and _organized_ never seem to appear in the same sentence. He apparently saw my disbelief, so he led Amata and I up to Stockholm's post. He was there, firing off shots from his hunting rifle every few seconds. The sight I saw from up there made me freeze in my tracks. I counted almost a hundred raiders, a mounted turret, and an actual working car.

"Fuck." I said under my breath.

"We won't be able to hold them for long." Lucas said somberly.

"What do we do?" It was Amata behind us, her face just as shocked as mine.

"We fight till there's none of us left standing or them." I couldn't believe Lucas was still acting this confident. I thought about running back to my house and grabbing my Fat Man, but it would probably cause just as much damage to us than them. I'd probably just destroy half the town with how close these guys are. But there had to be some other way, I wasn't going to let these assholes take my town from me.

"Lucas." I said a thought coming to me. "What is it?" "Is that ham radio of yours still working?" "Yeah, why?" "I need to call in some favors."

-------------------

"Ok, thank you ma'am." I disconnected the radio. I had just called in every single person that owed me throughout the wasteland. This really just meant The Brotherhood, seeing as I doubted anyone else would actually make good on their promises to "help me whenever I needed it." I had just talked to Sentinel Lyons and they had agreed to send every member of the pride that was available. Still with all the help we had coming now, it was going to be a fight for survival. For some reason the raiders were just entertaining themselves by firing off random shots at the wall. I had gone back to my house and gotten my pride power armor and plasma rifle before I started contacting. Amata was wearing some metal armor she had picked up at Moira's, and holding one of my sniper rifles. I held my helmet under one arm, my plasma rifle in the other, and both of my smg's hung on my belt. We were standing side by side on the top of the wall.

"How long will it take them to get here?" she said looking up at me. "At least a few hours, we'll need to hold them till then." "Something's bothering you isn't it?" she said looking right at me. "I just can't figure out why. Why are these guys attacking now? Raiders have never been this brave before, or this intelligent. Attacking as a mass force like this, Christ." I turned away from the edge and looked back towards the town. I saw Lucas giving direction to a mismatched group of settlers, all of them looking barely trained enough to fight a radscorpion. I sighed and looked back at the raiders, their forces now setting up small barriers and other forms of cover. They were preparing all right, but I never knew raiders that had this kind of tactical thinking. Something or someone was definitely behind this. But who could get these unthinking savages to work together, they usually just attacked anyone single person traveling alone out in the wastes. I mean these guys barely tolerated each other.

Putting aside the fact that someone was definitely pulling these guy's strings, I was back to finding a way to keep this town safe. I sat down and tried to consider any tactical advantages we might have. The wall around Megaton was definitely the best defense we had. After that there wasn't much. There was me, Lucas, Stockholm, Amata, Jericho, six or seven mercs who just happened to be here when the shit hit the fan, and that rag tag group of settlers Lucas was trying to organize. I counted twenty-three of them in all. There were also the two robots Deputy Weld and Deputy Steel, but I'd still rather have a few more sets of human hands with us. We were grossly outnumbered, outgunned, and all around fucked over.

The first thing we should try is to pick off as many as we could, which Stockholm was doing right now. What really had me worried though was the mounted turret. If they found a way to force open the gate, that gun could cut down anything inside. Hell even my power armor couldn't stand up to that thing for long.

Stockholm fired off another volley of shots, all of them pegging a raider somewhere on their person. I heard him grunt with approval, but how much had it really accomplished. I sighed again and looked out at the army before us, and froze. A line of at least twelve raiders were facing our position, each one of them armed with a missle launcher.

Amata was turned the other way so I grabbed her arm. Pulling her alongside I sprinted for the edge of the walkway facing the town. I heard her gasping with surprise and attempting to get me to stop, but I just kept running. With a leap we were both hurtling towards the ground. We landed in a heap as I heard the first explosion reach the position we were both standing at just moments before.

I looked all around to see if I could spot Stockholm, but found nothing. He must not have seen the raiders in time. As much as I wanted to I knew there was no time to mourn. Those missles were as good an indicator for an attack as any. By the time I had righted myself Lucas was already running over to us, his group of makeshift soldiers in tow.

We looked at each other for only a moment before he said, "Stockholm?". "Gone," I said back. He nodded once before he turned back to the men amassed before him. "People of Megaton," he boomed. "Today we fight to protect the only place any of us can call home. The enemy has us outgunned but we cannot let that stop us. We'll fight till not one man is left standing on our side or theirs. We'll show these assholes that just because we've settled down does not mean we can't royally fuck them up. This is your time to shine, let's get this started." Everyman there cheered, completely oblivious to the fact that many of them may not be coming back from this.

Now wasn't the time for sentimentality. I checked out my plasma rifle for any signs of damage from the blast. A few new dents and scratches but not much else besides that. I took a practice shot, taking aim straight up. A bolt of shimmering green erupted from the end and lanced into the sky. More cheering came from the direction of the men, I looked over at them to find them all looking at me. I almost laughed; they thought I had been trying to inspire them, well I guess if it helped with moral. I fired off a few more shots to the growing excitement of the men.

"That's enough Dawren," I heard Lucas say a ways behind me. I nodded to the soldiers before dawning my helmet and walking towards Lucas. The explosions outside began again as we got closer to the gate. I saw Lucas dividing the troops up into several groups before turning back towards me. "Are you ready for this?" he asked me, a look of actual concern crossing his face. "Damn straight," I said back confidently, my voice distorted by the speakers on my helmet. I looked around for Amata; she was on the roof of a nearby house. She held my sniper rifle in her hands and was attempting to give direction to the other people with similar weapons around her. She looked down at me and gave me a thumbs up.

I nodded at her before turning back towards the gate. The explosions were closer now, the gate couldn't take much more of this. I followed Lucas onto the roof of a house to the right of the gate. The metal began to bend and distort just as we were righting ourselves. Lucas drew his Chinese assault rifle and took aim, I followed suit with my plasma rifle. The metal was at an extreme angle by now and only bending further. Then it all went quiet.

I lowered my rifle and stared at the gate, attempting to find out what was wrong. I was about to walk over when the damn thing caved in. The raider's cars, a turret on its back, and several dozen raiders walking beside it burst through the opening. Things just got a whole lot more interesting.

-----------------

The heavy machine gun opened up on anything that was in range. Lucas and I both dived behind the house just as the tin roof we had just been standing on was ripped to shreds. I pulled myself to my feet and sprinted around the building, stopping right before I was in sight of the car and more importantly, it's gun. I peaked around the corner and saw the gun tearing our men to pieces. Shit, what the hell could I do. The car was at a complete stand- still, just letting the turret clear out anyone in it's path. I looked around for anything that could help me now. I couldn't find anything. I looked at the mounted gun seeing if there was any exploitable weakness. It was a modified mark iv turret, it's auto firing mechanics replaced with manual. An actual gunner sat on the back, a pair of goggles and a huge grin adorning his face. Aside from the auto firing mechanism, the gun was pretty much untouched. The mark iv's still used projectile fire, but were loaded up with a ton of useless tech that attracted the use of the standard mark ii's. Taking out that initial gun wouldn't win us this fight, but it might just give us the edge we need.

An idea began to form in my head. I looked all around me for the two people I would need for this to work. I spotted Amata taking shots at the foot soldiers, dropping almost everyone she aimed at. I would have been proud in any other situation, but now wasn't the time.

"Lucas," I shouted. "What," he yelled back. "Get up there and give that sniper some support," I said pointing at Amata, " Keep those raiders distracted.". He nodded before running off to Amata's position. Lucas had learned a long time ago that when I had an idea, it was best to not ask any questions. I looked all around for Moira, and found her on the landing outside her store, a mini-gun in her hands. I sprinted for the ramp leading up to her. Lucas had reached Amata and the two of them were doing a damn good job of keeping the on-foot raiders as well as the turret distracted. I reached the ramp and pounded my way up. Before I got to far up I came upon a raider trying to push a knife through one of the mercs helping us out. I grabbed the raider by his hair and dragged him off the man. With the added strength of my power armor I held the man in the air by his throat. He desperately tried to slash my arm with the knife, but to no avail. With my other hand I snatched the knife, pulled back my arm, and drove it through his right eye. I dropped the lifeless corpse and continued my way up the ramp.

Even with my helmet on Moira greeted me with her usual positive, uplifting voice. Although it was somewhat hampered by the eighty-pound mini-gun she was sporting. "Hey there, what can I do for you," she said in her ever cheerful voice. "How are you stocked for pulse grenades?" I asked. "Oh, I just got a whole mess of those things right now, how many do you need?" "Just gimme the whole lot," I said. "Okey dokey," she said running inside her shop. She came back with three milk crates filled to the brim with pulse grenades. I grabbed the boxes, "Just put it on my tab," I said as I turned to leave. "That ran out five visits-" " I know I know," I yelled over my shoulder as I ran back down the ramp.

When I got to the bottom I noticed that all of our surviving men had found cover and were taking as many shots as possible. Jericho and the rest of the mercs, including the one I saved, were mounting the best defense they could. The firefight raged on as I climbed my way up to where both Lucas and Amata were hiding. They both stared at my boxes of grenades before finally realizing what I was going to do. I handed each of them one of the grenades and held up three of my fingers. We all pulled the pins, but kept a hold of them. I lowered my first finger, the second. In unison we all stood up and lobbed our grenades right at the car, they all hit their mark. A second passed before the blast happened.

Moira's pulse grenades work much like your standard pulse grenade, although a standard pulse grenade only causes sterility or other similar side effects to living targets. Moira's however not only destroys circuitry but also sends out microwave pulses at such a frequency that any living target within the blast radius could very well have his head explode. It just so happens that the driver, gunner, and all the ground troops around the car were in perfect range for just such an event. Eyeballs, tongues, brain matter, and, of course, blood spattered the dirt all around the car. The turret sputtered, caught fire, and fell apart.

All was quiet. The surviving raiders looked around and saw that their best weapon was in shambles. Amata, Lucas, and I all took aim at the men. Jericho and his men came out of hiding and took aim. I was genuinely surprised at how many of them we had actual killed, only abot fifteen of them remained. We had lost ten settlers and three of the mercs in the attack, and we weren't about to let that one go. Eveyone opened fire. In mere seconds only shredded remains were left of the raiders.

------------------

We stood on what was left of Stockholm's post, staring out at the still formidable force before us. They had apparently thrown caution to the wind and were pulling together for one frontal assault. We had all dug in as best we could, but we really didn't know how long we could actually last. They still had at least eighty guys out there, while we were down to a little over twenty. I heard one of the raider's near the rear of the group shout something to the rest of them. I leveled my rifle on him out of pure habit, until his head exploded.

I actually jumped back when I saw that. I looked off in the direction the shot had come from, and saw the pride's best sniper, Knight Captain Dusk, lowering her rifle. They were on the western flank of the raiders. Along with Dusk I saw Sentinel Lyons herself, Paladin Glade, Kodiak, Vargas, Colvin and, thank god, Knight Captain Gallows. That son of a bitch was probably our best bet on turning the tides here. I almost cheered seeing those power armored bad asses storming the lines of the raiders.

I was too excited to take any conventional route to the ground, so I just jumped off the wall. My armor absorbed the shock of the fall; I stood up and charged toward the raiders. I heard Amata and Simms both clambering down the ramps behind me, trying to catch up. I fired off a volley of shots, and several of the raiders fell at once. I heard the familiar electric blast of a tesla cannon from the direction of the charging pride members; another group of raiders fell to the crippling blast. I reached the line and took cover at the base of the hill leading up to them. I fired off another few shots, and the cell in the gun ran dry. I scrambled to grab another when one of the raiders broke off from the group and came barreling toward me, a combat shotgun brought to bear. I threw my rifle at him, forcing him to raise his hands to protect his face. In that time I drew the smg on my right hip and leveled it at his head. He recovered in time to watch me pull the trigger and put ten rounds in his skull.

I recovered my rifle, reloaded it, and continued up the hill to join up with the other pride members. I glanced over my shoulder to see Amata and Simms not to far behind me. I turned back towards the battle and fired off more of my own shots. I heard the whine of a mini-gun warming up; I looked over and saw gallows brining the huge gun to bear. The 5mm rounds tore through the raider lines, dozens of them dropping at once. Lucas and Amata broke off from the path leading up to me to flank the raiders right side. I almost followed them when I saw Lyons waving me over to their lines. I sprinted up to her, batting aside wounded raiders along the way.

"Thought you were only bringing anyone who was available," I said as I reached her. "Not sure why," she started, her confidence like a gust of wind blowing me almost on my ass. "But as soon as these guys heard it was you who needed help, they couldn't get here fast enough. You know the Pride protects its own." She put her hand on my shoulder, and shook it. I took off my helmet and smiled at her. "Hey," she said suddenly, "weren't some of your friends following you?"

"Ah shit," I said slapping my forehead, "I let them head off alone." I ran in the direction I saw them going. How could I be so damn stupid, I just let them head off to fight a group of crazed raiders with just the two of them. At the time I just brushed it off without thinking, "Fuck." I said out loud.

It was strangely silent when I got there, until I heard the motor of another car. I spotted it heading off to the north. I kept running, and almost tripped over a dead raider. A cowboy hat lay in the dirt in front of me; I whipped around and saw that the body I had tripped over was Lucas face down in the dirt. I sprinted back towards him; there was blood on the ground around him. I didn't want to risk moving him, but I really didn't have a choice. I gently pushed him onto his side, and then his back. The bullet was right smack in the middle of his chest; a trickle of blood was dripping out of the side of his mouth.

I ripped a piece of cloth from his jacket, wadded it up and pressed in onto the wound; applying as much pressure as I dared with my power armor on. Suddenly I realized that Lucas was alone here. I looked around everywhere; she was nowhere to be found. I looked back down at Lucas, his eyes were open now but they were glazed. I felt for a pulse on his wrist, it was there but only slightly. I looked at him and said, "Lucas, I need you to help me, please just hang on man." He looked over at me. "Lucas, where's Amata." He raised one of his hands, one finger extended in the direction of the swiftly departing car. Then his hand went limp, his eyes lost all life, and his weak pulse disappeared completely.

I closed his eyelids with two of my fingers. I got up and stared at his lifeless body, one of the first friends I made out in the wastes was laying dead before me. And now my closest childhood friend was captured by the assholes that did this. I brought my rifle to bear at the dust cloud in the distance. I knew what I was going to do right then. I looked up into the setting sky and cried out. At the top of my lungs I yelled, "I'll kill all of you, every last fucking one of you."

_Next update by Saturday_


	9. Preparation

_A little late in the day but here it is._

"What the fuck do you mean you can't help," I yelled at Lyons. I stormed off into my house's kitchen as she sat calmly on the couch. We had returned here after meeting up after the fight; the others were over at Moriarty's celebrating with Jericho and his merc buddies. We had both gotten out of our armor and were wearing our underclothes. She took a sip from the bottle of water in her hand before speaking. "You know how thinly our forces are spread Dawren, we simply can't spare the man power to help you find your friend. Us coming here was enough of a stretch as it is."

"They killed Lucas, and half the men in this town. You're just gonna sit there and spit that bull shit." I swiped at a particularly annoying bottle on my counter; it shattered against the floor not two feet from Sarah.

She took another sip, "You're using circular logic Dawren. Since this town's sheriff is gone, as well as most of the able bodied fighters, we absolutely can't go gallivanting off on some rescue mission. We're going to have to assign protectors here until everything settles down."

She was right, but I was still pissed. I punched at my wall, and was surprised my fist actually went through the metal. I yanked it out; a trickle of blood was running down my forearm. I walked back to the living room and sat down in my easy chair. Sarah held out her hand and offered her my arm. She looked it over before walking into my kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water and a bottle of whiskey off of a shelf.

"You're lucky you didn't cut an artery dumb ass," she said as she popped open the water bottle and poured it over the cut. She took a semi-clean rag off the belt on her hip and wiped away the blood. Then she opened the bottle of whiskey and started pouring it on the cut. I don't care how tough you think you are, strong alcohol on an open cut hurts like a bitch. I jerked my arm and yanked my head away from her. "Sissy," I heard her mumble as she wiped away the whiskey. I tore off a piece of my shirt and offered it to her. She wadded it up pressed it against the cut, more fun for me, then tied it down with the other cloth.

"That should stem the bleeding, but tell Church to get that bandaged properly."

"Thanks," I murmured as she walked to get her pack containing her armor and rifle. She slung it over her back and walked toward the door. Before she opened it she turned back to me.

"These people trust you Dawren. Maybe you should give thought to becoming the next sheriff yourself, it would make our job a hell of a lot easier." I glared at her; she rolled her eyes at me. "Just think about it ok, and…" she paused, "I'm sorry about your friend." She opened the door and walked outside, gently closing it as she went.

I almost laughed; she talked as if Amata was already dead. I stood up and walked over to Wadsworth who was dusting the furniture in my bedroom. "Ah, hello sir," he said cheerfully, "Will we be entertaining anymore guests today?" "No," I said coldly. "Wadsworth, I need all of my holo-journals on raider encounters." Ever since I got Wadsworth with this house I had been taking holo-journals of my journeys throughout the wastes. There must be several weeks' worth to listen to at this point. Every time I left my house I would always tell Wadsworth where I was going and what I was expecting to find. While I was out I would record any of my findings on my Pip-Boy then offload it all onto Wadsworth's hardrive in case I ever needed them again, like now.

"Here you are sir," he said, a thin square disk ejecting from his main body. I picked up the disk and went to my living room and sat down. I popped the disk into my Pip-Boy and watched as it loaded the contents. The readout said that there were twenty-three hours of recordings on the disk. I sighed as I pressed play and heard my own voice fill the room, talking about my first encounter with raiders inside of the Super Duper Mart. I sat back and listened for the one clue that might help find the answer I was looking for.

-----------------

Five hours went by and I still didn't have an answer. Raiders taking prisoners was something that I had never seen before. They never even seemed inclined enough to take their victims back to whatever shit-hole they had thought to roost in. So the question still remained, why had they taken Amata? It couldn't be for any physical enjoyment, that really wasn't the raider's style. Killing seemed to sate that part of them nicely.

I paused the recording and stood up. The only way I was going to get Amata back from them was to track them myself. I wasn't going to find anything sitting here. I got up and walked over to my gun cabinet. I pulled out the old equipment pack I kept next to it and then opened up the cabinet itself. I took out my 44 revolver. There had been some minor customizations that I had done to it including the removal of the standard scope, a shaved off iron sight, and a hollowed out barrel. It was still in its holster and I placed all of it in the bag along with several boxes of ammo.

Next I grabbed a suitcase containing my other sniper rifle, I hadn't bothered looking for the one Amata had been carrying. I opened up the case and looked at the rifle. It wasn't exactly like all those clip loading rifles you see out in the wastes. No this one had your standard bolt action along the top, single round loading, and almost twenty five x zoom on the scope. It had a bigger kick than the clip loading variety and I preferred that. Inside the case it was in several parts, the main body near the latch, the barrel above that, and a compartment holding several rounds in the upper left corner. I pulled the body of the gun out and worked the bolt lever, it snapped back just like the first day I used it. Nodding with approval I placed the body back in the case before grabbing the barrel. I held the end up to the light and placed my eye against the other end, perfectly clear. If anything could be said about me it was that I kept damn good care of my weapons.

The case went into the pack along with a few more boxes of ammo for it. After that I grabbed the two smg's on the table next to my couch, then the plasma rifle leaning against the table. I packed several 10mm clips into the bag along with a few dozen microfusion cells. The pack was pretty heavy at this point so I grabbed another bag before heading to my refrigerator.

In my refrigerator I don't just keep food, but anything that needs to be kept cold. I loaded up the second pack with enough food for two people for a week, and then I looked into the drawer where I kept my medical supplies. Inside there were two boxes of stimpacks, five packs in each, two syringes of psycho, and three of med-x. I didn't know what I was expecting to happen, but I took the lot anyway. Hey better safe than sorry, god that sounds corny.

Finally I walked to the cabinet adjacent to the one holding my guns. This is where I kept my armor. I yanked open the first door and brought out my metal armor. Once again I had done several customizations to it. Gone were the spiked shoulder plates and jutting chest piece, these were all filed down to a manageable width and only stuck out about and inch off of my body at its thickest. It was almost completely hidden as I dawned my regulator coat.

I slung both of my bags over my shoulders as I walked towards the door. Wadsworth met me there, a bottle of water in his outstretched claw. I grabbed the bottle giving him a nod of thanks as I continued for the door. Before I could open it Wadsworth spoke up, "Is there any information you wish to give me about where you're going sir?" "Yeah," I said twisting the handle. "I'm going hunting."

_Next update sometime next week (will have more action than this chapter)_


	10. The Good Old Days

_I'm late again I know. I should be updating much more frequently now though._

Outside people were rebuilding. Homes were shattered by explosion and gunfire. The dead were being identified by groups of weeping family members. I walked through the square and barely watched the scene as I headed for the main gates. Suddenly, I felt a fist hit the small of my back.

I turned around to see a crying woman staring up at me a baby cradled in her arms. "He fought for you," she finally choked out. Her free hand pointing at a man's corpse a few feet away. "He's gone because he came to fight at your side, said it would be a great honor and now he's dead. Was it worth it?" she screamed the last part, the baby in her arms crying. She threw another punch at my chest, and another until she finally backed away sobbing to herself. I walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"He fought well, I should have been the honored one." She slapped my hand away and ran off back toward her apparent husband's body. Maybe she could tell that I was lying, I had never met her husband nonetheless fought by him. I guess he knew me though.

I sighed before turning back toward the gate. There wasn't much left of it now, the gaping hole still torn into the side like a scar. I ducked my head as I passed through it out into the wastes. I hadn't gotten ten feet before I heard a voice call out behind me. I turned in time to see Kodiak running at me, his power armor gone and now replaced by some light combat getup. He had an assault rifle slung on his back and two 10mm pistols on his hips. He reached me and skidded to a stop.

"Dawren," he gasped after a second, "I'm coming with you." I hid my surprise behind the blankest stare I could muster. "No, you're not." I turned away again as he grabbed my shoulder. I clasped both my hands around his wrist, positioned myself and pulled. He flipped over my back and slammed onto the ground in front of me. All of the wind in his lungs rushed out in one gasp. "I said no." my voice sounding cold as ice.

I stepped over him and continued on to find the beginning of the trail. I had gone another few feet before I heard him. "Sarah told us about your request, and how she said no." I stopped and turned back toward him. "I want to help you," he continued, "It's wrong of us to abandon you now, so I won't." I glared at him, "If she told you all that you should know I'm not much in the mood to see anyone from the brotherhood." "I know," he responded, "So I'm not helping you as a fellow knight, but a friend." He had gotten up now and was walking toward me again. He reached me and held out his hand, "So please, let me help you now. Like you've helped us so many times." I looked at his hand, then back at him. I brought my packs up a little higher on my shoulders and turned away from him. "Don't get in my way," I said before walking off again.

I heard him scramble to grab all his gear and run to catch up to me. Great, I thought to myself, I have a companion now. I shook my head at the thought; I had been hoping for a battalion of power-armored knights, not two merc looking soldiers. I guess it was better than nothing. We reached the sight where Lucas had been shot; a discoloration in the dirt haunted me as we passed. The trail wasn't hard to find, cars aren't exactly common in the wastes these days. I knelt down next to the tracks and found a lot of scuffed up ground, she had put up a fight. That point was made ever clearer when I turned around and saw a raiders body laying there, a 308-sized hole in his chest. I checked his pockets hoping for some kind of clue, but all there was was a pack of cigarettes. I sat back and considered my options.

I could make an attempt at tracking, but that could take weeks even with the tire tracks. I turned toward Kodiak, "Got a light?" I asked. He pulled an actual lighter out of his pocket and tossed it to me. I opened the pack and was about to pull out a cigarette, when a piece of paper caught my eye. I pulled it and it came loose. In very small letters the outside said, BURN AFTER READING. I almost laughed, enjoying just how stupid raiders were. I unfolded the paper and found a map. As crudely drawn, as it was I could still make out several land features that distinguished it as a map of the capital wasteland.

Several places were marked. The first that caught my eye was a big red circle about a mile away from Megaton, it was marked MP. Meeting place, I concluded. The next I could distinguish was around Megaton itself, it was marked AH. "Attack here?" I said quietly. Jesus, could they not figure anything out for themselves. The final point marked on the map drew my attention more than the others. It was several miles north of Megaton, marked with a large red arrow. This place was marked RVP, rendezvous point. I almost dropped the map when I recognized the location, Paradise Falls.

"What did you find?" It was Kodiak. I stood up and looked at him. I flicked one of the cigarettes into my mouth and snapped open the lighter. I'm not much of a smoker, but this occasion seriously called for something to calm my nerves. I held the lighter up to the cigarette, lit it and took a short drag. I let the smoke drift from my mouth before speaking. "A nightmare."

_Five Months Earlier_

The sun was beating down hard today. I shifted the position of the assault rifle on my back, checked the two sawed off shotguns on my sides to see if they had come loose, and unsheathed the combat knife from the holster behind my back. I was just outside the gate of the slaver headquarters of the wasteland, Paradise Falls. Satisfied with my equipment I sheathed the knife and walked up to the guard.

"Hold it right there," the man boomed. I raised my hands in surrender as he hoisted the Chinese Assault Rifle by his side. The man was your average slaver, a merc looking outfit, tons of extra ammo, and an attitude that just screamed asshole. "I'm not here to cause trouble," I said as innocently as I could. He cocked an eyebrow before lowering the gun an inch, "You honestly think I give a shit? Get outta here before I kick your raggedy ass."

"C'mon man," I continued, "You can let me up there, like I said I'm not here to-" he fired the rifle, the bullet smacked right next to my foot. "Okay, okay," I stuttered keeping my hands raised. I thought for a second before speaking again, "Lets cut the crap alright," I said lowering my hands, "Everyman has his price now what's yours?" He chuckled before speaking again. "Damn son, you don't give up do you? Alright lets say I had five hundred caps in my hand, then I might consider vouching for you." I took a sack out of my pocket and tossed it to him. Surprised he caught the bag and opened it up.

"Is this some kind of fucking joke," he spat raising the gun again. I smirked, "Not at all." I held up my other hand, a metal ring around my index finger. He stared at me confused before realizing what was happening. He scrambled for half a second before the grenade in his hand went off. I turned away from the blast and felt something wet spatter against the back of my coat. Turning around again I whipped the rifle off of my back and worked the action.

Already I could hear people running and yelling god knows what a little ways away. I took the opportunity to gain some ground. I ran forward, zigzagging around all of the rag tag forms of cover set near the entrance. I reached the main gate just as the two other guards there readied their weapons. I fired off a volley of shots and one of them went down, the other started firing randomly. I ducked behind a barrel as the gunfire peppered the ground all around me. I fished in my pocket for the little two-way radio I had taken. "Could use some help here," I yelled into the speaker. "Just a little patience son," Paladin Cross's voice came over the speaker. The plan was going smoothly so far.

The regulators had decided it was in our best interest to finally rid the wasteland of its main slaver base. My part was to run distraction as my brotherhood companion gave me sniper support. The other regulators would be setting charges near the slave barracks inside, hoping to catch most of them in the blast. I also had another goal in mind; there were several slaves in there that were important to me and I had a bone to pick with Eulogy Jones.

I heard the sound of a sniper bullet and the final door guard collapsed into a puddle of his own brain. I got up and rushed the entrance. The door inside was really just that, a door. Easy enough for me to kick in. One of the doors actually came off its hinges, hitting a scrambling slaver in the head, he didn't get up. A bunch of them were running in and out of the barracks searching for any kind of weapon. I smiled to myself, perfect. I pulled out the radio again, "Tell them to blow the charges now." I didn't hear a response, but I definitely got to see the effects. I ducked into cover just as an explosion loud enough to burst eardrums within a mile radius erupted from the direction of the barracks. The light that came off it was blinding, I just barely saw the shape of a small mushroom cloud in the middle of a huge ring of fire. Great I thought to myself; they decided to go with nuclear charges. I wiped dust off of my face before standing up again. Charred bodies littered the ground; some of them actually still moaned and tried to take shuddering breaths. I turned away from the grisly scene and ran toward the center of Paradise Falls.

I hated nuclear charges; they were like actual nuclear bombs, the lasting effects and all. Conventional shrapnel and plastic based explosives either killed you or blew you on your ass, no major suffering or torture involved. Unless you were in that small area of burning that was to far to die or to close to just be blown on you ass, but that was a small area. Nuclear could fry everything skin deep, and just stop there. A hell of a lot of pain; I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

I ignored the muffled groans and screams behind me and continued on toward the main building. A man with a beard sporting an assault rifle was standing outside. Seeing me he raised his gun; I scrambled for mine but the action jammed and he already had me in his sights. Crack. My eyes were closed and slowly I peeled them open. The bearded man was on the ground, minus one head. I looked back toward the hills and whispered a silent thank you to Cross; I could almost see her giving me that 'You owe me one' smile.

I ejected the clip from my rifle and cleared the action; I would never leave my guns in this state again. I slammed the clip home and turned toward my target, the home of Eulogy Jones. The wind picked up and the tails of my coat kicked in the wind. I would have given anything to see what I looked like right now. I walked toward the entrance and kicked in the door.

Bang. Hot pain shot through my arm as I ducked to my right. More shots rang out as I ran. I flipped a table and crouched behind it. I tore the sleeve off my arm and found it peppered with holes; shotgun I concluded. Looking over and saw my attacker, a woman in a white dress with blonde hair; she was sporting a sawed-off shotgun in one hand and a short sword in the other. A melodiously deep voice rang out in the other room, "That's right my sweet kill him, and daddy will have a nice treat for you when you're done." A mischievous smile creased the woman's lips as she raised the shotgun in her hand at me once again. She fired the gun off twice more, both shots taking away a piece of the table. I scrambled to get my rifle brought to bear, but my arm was too torn up to level the rifle nonetheless fire it. I tossed the rifle and brought out one of my own shotguns from my hip holsters.

I blind-fired over the table and heard her scramble out of the way. Risking a peak over my torn-up cover I saw the woman's gun on the ground, and she was nowhere to be seen. At the last second I heard footsteps to my right. I sidestepped and felt the woman rush past me, her sword whistling through the air. I brought the butt of my gun down onto the base of her neck; she fell flat on the ground. I turned and aimed my gun as she turned over onto her back and swiped the sword into an upward arc. It cut into my right leg and I stumbled; enough time for her to get up and come at me again.

She ran at me and brought the sword down in an overhand swipe. I brought up my gun and narrowly deflected the blow; my arm shook from the hit. I stepped back to take a shot, only to find an actual cut in the barrel of my gun. I stared at it confused as the woman flashed that mischievous smile again. I tossed the gun away and barely pulled out the other before she threw another swipe at me. I stepped back and put my back against the wall as she swiped again and again. I didn't dare try to block with the shotgun again or risk losing it. I ducked at her latest blow and plowed an elbow into her gut. She doubled over giving me enough time for me to straighten up, place the barrel to the base of her neck, and pull the trigger.

The effect was a bit more graphic than I had hoped for as the shot blew clean through her neck and her head toppled to the floor; that smile never leaving her lips. I took a few deep breaths before righting myself, reloaded the shotgun, and moved on to the next room.

Inside was another woman, this one with darker skin and a 32 pistol in her shaking hand. She fired and the shot went somewhere to my left. I sprinted up to her, knocked the gun out of her hand, and hit both of her temples; she hit the ground unconscious. Then I heard clapping somewhere behind me.

"How noble," the same deep voice from before. I whipped around and aimed the gun at the man descending the stairs, it was Eulogy Jones himself. He reached the bottom of the stairs before continuing. "You let a near defenseless woman live; I have to say such feats of nobility are unknown in these parts."

I'm not sure why I hesitated; outside the sounds of battle were quieting, the regulators had done their work. Eulogy knew he wasn't getting out of here alive, so why the confidence? I brought myself back to reality just as his hand shot to his side and a scoped 44 appeared. I fired my first round before ducking behind a nearby couch; his first few shots followed me the whole way.

I fired off the last shot over the couch. I heard him duck for cover as the round hit the wall behind him. I cracked the barrel and reloaded the gun. There were only four shells left including the two I had just reloaded. I stood up and turned to find Eulogy on the other side of the couch I had been hiding behind. I pointed the gun down at him, just as he brought his foot up in a high kick knocking the gun out of my hand.

I shot out my bad arm and held his gun arm as tightly as I could. He struggled as straightened out the arm, brought up my good arm, and brought my elbow right down onto the joint. I heard the snap and felt his gun hit the floor by my feet. Eulogy ripped his now useless arm out of my grasp and lunged at the gun on the ground. I kicked the 44 as far away as I could I unsheathed the knife behind my back. I lunged at the clambering form beneath my feet; he turned over and dived just out of reach. The knife banged against the floor before I could recover. Eulogy was a few feet away from me before I turned back toward him.

I attempted to run at him, only to find the cut in my leg had finally decided to start hurting. I stumbled and fell to the ground. I looked and found Eulogy had picked up a nearby brick in his good arm and was about to bring it down on my head. I jumped to my feet, attempting to ignore the pain in my leg, and swung at his arm. Blade met flesh, a crimson trail sprung from Eulogy's arm. He dropped the brick to his side and clutched the wound I had inflicted.

I rolled out of the way as it crashed to the floor, then got to my feet and slammed my fist into Eulogy's stomach. He doubled over and I brought my fist down onto his back, causing him to fall to the floor. I took the knife and held it as his throat as he came to.

He looked into my eyes and I actually saw genuine fear there. I breathed hard as I stood there, this man's life held in my grasp. I don't know how long I stood there but it must have been a while because when I looked down I saw blood had pooled around my foot. Confused I looked for the start of the flow and saw it had all come from the wound on Eulogy's arm. I must have cut the artery when I lunged at him.

"N-never… done… this before… huh?" Eulogy said weakly. "I've killed before," I snapped back. "I… don't mean… kill." 'cough' "I mean… held a life… in your hands… like this." He was right; I'd never killed anyone like this before. I'd never stabbed someone in the back, never shot someone that didn't see me. I'd killed hand to hand before but they had always been an instant kills, not like this.

"Well… what're you waiting for… do it." I brought the knife up and looked at the man one last time. I turned him onto his side and brought the knife right above the back of his neck. In one final strike I brought the blade down perfectly onto the man's spine; blood spurted out in an arc that splattered against my cheek. I wiped the blade clean and walked toward the door. Finally slavery in the wasteland had come to an end. It was over.

_Present day_

I finished the cigarette and crushed it beneath my foot. North was where I had to go, north was where Amata was. I picked up my gear and started forward with Kodiak in tow. I didn't know what was waiting for me there, but I was pretty sure I didn't care. I was going to get her back, no matter how many of them I had to go through. The sun was setting now and night would soon be upon us.

_I will hopefully have more than one update this week, I hope._


	11. Old Friends

Night was soon upon us. The cool air settled over us as we began to set up camp. Well not a literal camp, more like two mats on the ground with a small fire going. The moon shone bright overhead giving us enough light to see around. Over the fire I had placed a metal cooking pan that was boiling water. I threw in some dried brahmin jerky and some spices I had brought along. The makeshift soup came to a boil as we sat.

I removed my coat but kept my under armor on, habit I guess. Kodiak was following suit with his armor and his hand was palming the stock of his assault rifle. I took the soup off the fire and pulled out a ladle from my pack and a couple of old tin cans; I filled both tins, kept one for myself and passed the other to Kodiak. The light from the fire played across our faces as we ate.

Finishing up mine I sat back and put my hands behind my head. I heard the clink of Kodiak's tin being set down and then a shuffle as he got to his feet. "So uh, guess I'll take first watch then."

"Knock yourself out," I said despondently. The crunch of his boots walking away was all the assurance I needed to know he was gone. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the pack of cigarettes with the map still inside. After pulling out, lighting, and taking a short drag on one of the cigarettes I unfolded the map and stared at it. Two thoughts occurred to me; first I needed to stop smoking these, I was going to have a problem if I didn't, and second there had to be something I missed on this map. Taking another drag I stared as if I hoped the answer would jump of the page and slap me in the face. With no such luck I laid back again and closed my eyes. Dammit there had to be something else, a backup plan, future attacks something. I smacked myself in the head before lying still once again.

----------

I must have dosed off because when I woke two things became apparent to me. First my cigarette had burnt down to the filter with me only taking two drags, fucking waste. Second Kodiak was bound and gagged a few feet away from me. I tried to sit up and found myself tied to the ground. I struggled against the rough ropes to no avail. I looked all around for our attackers and saw no one in sight. I brought my head around toward Kodiak again and called out to him, yes I wasn't gagged and no I'm not sure why. He rolled onto his side revealing an extremely nasty looking gash that was staining the ground beneath him. I struggled against the ropes once more only to be put down again. I laid my head to the side, and saw a sheet of paper conveniently placed there.

I squinted at the paper, trying to make out any writing that could be written on it. With the final embers glowing in the fire I vaguely made out two words "Bye Bye." Shit. In an almost panicked state I looked all around me for any signs of danger. Still there was no one but I did happen upon seeing an unfamiliar black box close to Kodiak. I listened closely and vaguely made out a quiet ticking emanating from somewhere inside the box. Back to struggling I dug my hands into the rough ropes, feeling a warm trickle run down my arms and legs as I sawed fresh cuts into them. Still I could get no give from my binds. "Fuck!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "Kodiak, you said you wanted to help now fucking help. Do… something, shit." I was getting hysterical now. Could this really be it, the end? No, no not yet I still had a mission; I'd never failed a mission before. This was for my best friend, I couldn't let her down. And Kodiak, the stupid bastard had actually come along with me against the pride's wishes. He was risking everything to help me, I couldn't let him die.

"No no no, fuck." I shouted and many more obscenities followed. I had let them down, everyone that needed me now and in the future. Everyone that depended on me. It was also really shitty that I was going to be done in without knowing who was pulling the fucking trigger, so to speak. I slammed my head against the ground, which turned out to be a bad idea as I felt my skull collide with the rock it had been set against.

My vision turned blurry and tinged with red as I lay there. The ticking from the box sounded a hundred times louder. I figured this was the way those old pre-war clock towers sounded. Only difference was that those clocks weren't going to kill you in an undetermined amount of time. The final embers of the fire burned out and my world was plunged into blackness. At least I didn't have to see the end coming, a small luxury in what was soon to follow.

A shadowy shape appeared above me. If I could've I would have laughed. Another final mercy, getting to see the man that was going to kill me now. I gathered enough of my senses to be able to close my eyes. You know that thing people say about seeing your whole life pass before your eyes before you die, it's true. In fact I've seen my life pass before my eyes so many times you'd think I had a holo-disk for a memory. A lot of my thoughts centered on Amata and my dad. But I was unwillingly dragged back to that memory of the swamp in Point Lookout and those two, what were they called, bubbleheads? Whatever.

_Isn't it funny how everything you get close to ends up leaving? _And._ Dead mother, life in a post-nuclear Wasteland and not a friend in it. Yeah, you aren't exactly blessed. _

Its true I guess, not much I can do about it now. But ever since I left that place I had taken on this gloomy demeanor, I used to be more fun and optimistic. Now I guess I got a real slap in the face by reality.

My life sucked and there wasn't anything I could do now to change any of that. In a few seconds I was going to die anyway so what was the point. I saved Amata only to have her taken by slavers, a life worse than death. Everything would have just turned out better if I had tried a bit harder to end myself then and there on that hillside that seemed so long ago. The darkness hung before me like a pool of cool water, I dived in headfirst.

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"How is he?" a voice in the darkness? Maybe long dead friends come to greet me.

"Too soon to tell, he keeps yelling so he's not dead. Geeze all he took was a smack on the head, most of this has got to be mental." Two voices now, they seem familiar.

"What does he say?" The first voice again, definitely familiar. It's smooth, silky almost and oh so comforting.

"Hell I don't know, about his dad and some girl I think. Anyway with a little more rest he should be good to go." My vision began to clear. I tried to move my right arm, success. I lifted it and placed it on my forehead. A cold sweat drenched my skin.

"Looks like I'll get to ask him myself." I looked up into the face of a man I never thought I'd have to see again. "Welcome back to the land of the living my friend," said Vance, leader of the family.

"Morning Count Dracula," I slurred. "Ah a crack about vampires, I can't believe I missed those," he said, a small smile creasing his lips. I looked around to see we were still outside, the night pretty far gone and morning wasn't far off. I sat up to get my bearings. Vance and Alan were the only two there, the second voice apparently belonged to him. Kodiak laid a ways to my right and Vance and Alan were both standing around us. In front of me there was a faint spiral of smoke.

"Couldn't find a way to defuse the damn thing," said Alan. "We barely got you two out of there in time." "Then thanks I guess," I said sheepishly. "Thanks are not necessary," Vance said with a wave of his hand. "How did you guys find us?" I asked after a few minutes.

"Your shouting mostly my friend." "Oh," I said looking at the ground. "May I enquire as to why you're here exactly," Vance continued. "Rescue mission," I said, completely serious. "Ah I see, you have a knack for those. Although not always in very orthodox methods." I guessed he was referring to the first time we met.

"So, um, its almost morning. Shouldn't you guys be heading out by now?" I asked. "Indeed we should," Vance responded curtly. "But we still must see to your friends wounds, they are quite extreme." I looked over at Kodiak and finally noticed the large white bandage covering a part of his face. "Really just wish we had an actual doctor here," Alan said crouching over Kodiak. I stood up and walked over to him. Carefully I peeled back he bandage to find a slightly scabbed over and puffy gash.

"Where're my packs," I said standing back up again. Vance bent down and through both bags at me. Catching both I opened the one containing my medical supplies. "What are you doing man," Alan asked confused. "I lived with a doctor for twenty years, cleaning up after and sometimes helping with patients. I picked up a few things." I examined the wound again before reaching into the bag and pulling out a few stims and a clean gate syringe. I placed it into his arm and began injecting a few stims to help increase blood flow. Then I took out a clean swab and some alcohol and began to clean off the wound of any signs of infection. I pulled off the dirtied bandage and applied a fresh one before injecting a final syringe of med-x to dull the pain. Mr. field triage that's me.

I stood up and cleaned up the dirtied bandages and used syringes, which really just meant burying them in the ground. "Fine work," said Vance as I finished up. "Thanks, but any moron can figure out that infection can… complicate things." Alan turned away behind me. "So will you be heading out then," Vance asked after a while. "Not sure, with Kodiak in this condition I don't know. He'll definitely need more rest, but I really have to get going now." Vance stood still for a moment and put his hand on his chin as if he were thinking.

Finally he said, "Listen, you've done much for me and my family. If you wish I'll take care of your friend until he is fit to travel again." "You sure?" I asked, if I did this I could leave now and be that much closer to finding Amata. Then again I was beginning to like the idea of back up. As if sensing my reservations Vance continued saying, "If you wish for a replacement companion for your future endeavors I can spare one of our own." The first thing I could think of to say was, "How?" Vance looked at me curiously. "What I meant is that you guys don't travel during the day." "Don't worry," Vance said placing his hand on my shoulder. "The man I have in mind has no qualms with the sun. Now go on, I'll send him along as soon as we get back."

I could've hugged him, but that would have been out of character. Instead I held out my hand, he grabbed onto my forearm in a traditional handshake. "Thank you," I said. "My pleasure, now go get that girl." I almost took a step back, "How did you know that?" He smiled again before saying, "I didn't for sure, but I had my suspicions when you screamed out Amata while you were unconscious. Didn't exactly sound like a regular old companion to me. And you did just confirm that fact." Damn, he was always playing me like that. Vance just had a way with words I guess.

I picked up both my packs before walking off. Looking over my shoulder I saw Alan and Vance both carrying Kodiak over their shoulders. I looked forward again and continued on. Warmth graced the right side of my face as the sun began to rise. I was on my way again. This time I couldn't stop, no more breaks, no more rest, no more distractions. I'm coming now Amata, don't worry.


	12. A Surpising Appearance

_This isn't much of chapter, just introducing Dawren's new companion. I'm just updating now because I want everyone to know that I am still updating. I have a legitimate excuse now, school. I'll try harder I swear._

"C'mon out you son of a bitch, we got you this time." Jesus do these assholes ever give up? I was taking cover behind a row of steel barrels on a hill about a days walk from where I met up with Vance. At the base of the hill, and they were only still there do to my constant sniper fire, were a small group of Talon Company mercs. I really thought that stupid hit they had out on me would have passed by now, no such luck apparently. I swear I'm gonna find the dead man responsible for that contract in the first place. I worked the action on my freshly assembled sniper rifle and took aim through a small hole in one of the barrels.

They were piled up behind the same cover, a gutted car on a broken up road about three hundred feet away. An easy shot if these four weren't the only semi-intelligent mercs Talon Company had. They seemed to understand that, with enough steel plating between them and me, they wouldn't get hurt… for a while. I took a shot through one of the window frames and smiled to myself when I cry of pain erupted from behind the car. Not a kill shot I know, but it still felt damn good. A chorus of automatic weapon fire erupted from the front and rear of the car as I dived back behind the barrels and felt them jolt from the bullets smacking into the metal.

They stopped and I heard the oh-so familiar sound of clips being ejected. I took that time to look for an opening. The car was your standard model and still in relatively good shape. A few days work and I could have had the thing running as long as… I almost smacked my head. I looked to the front of the car and, sure enough, a small black box was sticking out of the hood. Pre-war cars had taken a semi-environmental turn by switching to nuclear powered energy cores. This provided the car with a constant supply of energy as long as the owner maintained the core properly. The only drawback, well if anything say like a 308 caliber round from a sniper rifle fired by one genuinely pissed-off sniper were to hit the core. The result would be that of nuke small enough to fit into a suitcase. Not a huge boom, but enough to get the job done.

I had the core in my sights as the mercs behind he car finished reloading with a very audible snap. I took one breath, two, on the third I held it. The rifle steadied as the four men on the other side all raised their guns in unison. "Good night," I whispered as I pulled the trigger. Bang. BOOM! The resounding shock wave knocked me off my feet and I felt heat blast over my skin. The light blinded me for what seemed like hours. Finally the smoke cleared and I got a view of the field. At the bottom of the hill there were four charred lumps on the ground, burnt beyond recognition. Sighing I took apart the rifle again and laid the pieces back in the case. I snapped it shut, threw it back into my bag and continued on.

I felt my skin tingle as I passed the blast site, but the feeling soon subsided. If you did what I did out here for as long as I have, you'd learn to ignore radiation as well. The sun had risen to the top of the sky as I walked along. If my prediction was right I should arrive in Paradise Falls by late afternoon. The thought spurred me on even more, knowing that I was so close.

This is why the sudden snick of a blade being unsheathed and the feeling of cold steel rap around my throat made me slightly miffed. "Heh, gotcha now," a man's voice whispered in my ear. "Really?" I said curiously. The clicking of my revolver being cocked against the man's stomach silenced both of us. "Now," I said finally, "step back." He loosed the knife from around my neck and stepped away from me as I whipped around and tackled him to the ground. I smacked the knife away and leveled my gun at his head, to find Ian West lying beneath me.

"H-how's it going Dawren," he stuttered. "What the hell are you doing here," I said back. "Um could you get off me first?" he sputtered. I rolled off him, brought my feet underneath me and stood over him offering my hand. He took it and I pulled him up. We stood for a few moments in silence. He was wearing some crude leather armor, pretty obviously hand-made. His hair was longer and he had grown a few inches since I last saw him. Underneath his right eye there was a fairly big white scare running in a crescent shape.

Finally I said, "So seriously what are you doing here?" "Vance sent me," he said sheepishly. "What? Just you?" I yelled. He's gotta be messing with me again, there's no way Vance would screw with me like this. My words had seemed to go unnoticed by Ian as he walked over to the knife I had knocked out of his hands. It was one of those big curved hunting knives... what are they called? Kukri that's it. He picked it up and wiped the blade clean of any dirt before whipping around hurling it right at me. It spun through the air as I watched it draw closer. I threw myself at the ground and I swear a few of bits of my hair got chopped off as the knife passed overhead. Back on my feet I had my revolver, once again, cocked and pointed at Ian.

He stood still and merely gestured for me to look back. Ok, I guess I let my curiosity get the better of me because I actually did turn around. Behind me was a huge Albino Radcorpion poised for a killing strike. It probably would have done it to, if Ian's knife weren't sticking straight out of its head. I turned toward Ian again to find him smiling at me. "Yeah," he said after a while, " just me."


	13. Scouting

**Ok, I have no excuse for how long this took me to upload, but I will finish this story rest assured and I will never pull this crap again. I finished this several months ago but just forgot about everything till just now. It's not a huge chapter, just a reassurance that I will be updating once again. And once again, my sincerest apologies.**

"What do you see," Ian asked over my shoulder.

"Two guards, more raiders I'm guessing," I responded from my prone position. It had been about five hours since Ian and I'd met up. In that time we'd finally reached Paradise Falls, camping out on a hill about a quarter mile away. I was sighting through my sniper rifle hoping to gain some incite into any defenses erected since I'd last been here. What I saw didn't exactly inspire hope.

The place had already been a fortress before, now it was a fucking immobile tank. Every wall had risen at least another ten feet, and was made of more than just tin. It almost looked like Vault-Tec steel, not an impossible notion. The front gate was now just that, a gate. Backed by what looked like several feet of this new steel. Lounging about the front entrance were two raiders apparently set there as guards.

I contemplated taking the two out with the rifle, but dashed the idea. There were still too many unknowns about the security here. I staggered back away from the edge and set the rifle aside and opened up my weapons bag. I took out the plasma rifle and checked the energy cell, fully charged. I slung the weapon on my back and clipped both of the SMGs on my belt. Lastly I grabbed a combat knife Ian had lent me.

His story had enraptured me on the way here. Apparently, after leaving the Family he had taken to combat training with a few holotapes laying around Arefu. Mostly he concentrated on hand to hand and melée weapons, paricularly knives. His demeanor was competely different, gone was the pitiful self loathing brat. Before me now was a fully capable wastelander, and dammit I was glad I had someone here. If I'd gone in alone like I'd originally planned I probably wouldn't have survived it.

Now the question remained, how the hell were we going to bust into there. I had been relying on just knocking down the front door, shooting up everything inside and getting out. With that plan out the door, we were now very limited on options. Suddenly the two guards stood at what looked like attention, and out stepped someone in a long red coat with a wide brim hat to match. I would have thought I was seeing ghosts if one very important detail wasn't standing out, well two details. Jutting out from the chest were quite obviously a pair of breasts, this was a woman.

I sat back to consider this new development. A woman was leading Paradise Falls? Whoever it was definitely had brains, or caps, enough to make an army of Raiders work together, this made her especially dangerous.

Sighing I turned back to Ian, "I don't have a fucking clue how we're getting in there." Hey, it was an honest enough statement. Ian picked up the rifle and sighted down the scope as I had, taking in the same sights. A low whistle escaped his mouth as he lowered the rifle again.

"Stealth?" he said after a few seconds.

"Not my strong suit," I replied smiling.

"Any backup," he asked.

The only response I gave was a hard glare that said, "Are you honestly asking that?" He nodded in understanding. We sat in silence for a while, the night growing darker all the time. I looked back to the stockpile of weapons we had: My guns, Ian's kukri and several other knives of the combat and throwing variety, and several charges Ian had wisely brought with him. We could probably blow the gate, the problem was what to do once we got in there. They could have another whole army or more turrets, so that was a stupid plan.

Suddenly a few armed men escorting a few raggedly dressed people came around the corner of the fence, heading toward the entrance. The apparent leader of the slavers nodded to both guards. The small group reached the gate and exchanged a few words with them before the two stepped aside and allowed the group entrance.

The gears in my head turned as a plan slowly started forming. I looked back at Ian smiling, as he took his eyes off the scene before us as well. He stared at me for a second, confused. Finally realization dawned as a look af shock passed over his face.

"You're not seriously thinking of..." he cut himself off as I started nodding slowly.

"Well shit," he said rubbing the back if his neck, "let's give it a try."

---------

Brick lit another cigarrete and took a long drag, he hated door duty. A whole pen full of fresh meat just behind the door at his back, blood, guts, bone. The thought made him shiver with pleasure. He quickly dashed the thought and took another drag, remembering the last one to hurt a slave, and what the Mistress had done. The red stain on his shirt still hadn't come out.

He exhaled and watched the smoke coalesce around his face. Suddenly he felt a tugging on the side of his ragged shirt. He turned to see his counterpart Jarl.

"Look alive," he said, "Looks like we got another delivery."

"Great," Brick responded sarcastically.

The two raiders turned to see a pair coming around the corner. One armed with a plasma rifle, his face covered by some kind of welding mask, he wore some kind of modded out metal armor with a couple of SMGs on his hips and a knife in it's holster just above his boot. He also wore a bulging brown pack on his back. The other was much shorter and was dressed in some tattered clothes, a strip of sturdy cloth bound his hands and he had a burlap sack covering his face. Brick ran the routine and put his hand up nonchalantly to stop the pair approaching the door.

"What's your business in Paradise Falls," he asked, not bothering to try and hide the boredom in his voice.

"Sale," the armored man said in a slightly metallic voice.

Brick stared at the scrawny man for a second. He shrugged, "Ain't gonna get much for 'im."

"That's my problem," he responded.

Brick shrugged again before nodding at Jarl and turned around and started typing a code on a keypad set into the wall next to the gate. Some new fangled security system the Mistress had decided on, more secure or not, Brick could not figure out how to work the damn thing. Finally after a few failed attempts the small confirmation beep sounded and the gate hissed as it began to open.

A gasp of pain, then a muffled gurgling sound caused Brick to turn around again. Jarl lay on the ground clutching at his throat as a deep red spilled forth and pooled beneath him. His whole body convulsed before he lay still, the occasional spasm racking the corpse. Horrified Brick looked back up and found the scrawny man, no longer with a bag over his head, clutching a bloody combat knife. And the helmeted man had the rifle pointed right at his head.

"Thank you for your assistance," the man whispered.

The last thought that flashed through the Raider's mind was "Damn, I really hate door duty," before a lance of green burned a perfect hole right between his eyes.


End file.
